A hero Appears!
by yamimakai3
Summary: now is grace's turn to be a hero! Grace ended by accident into a farm where a bull named Aldebaran rules with an iron hoof and everyone must do whatever he says.
1. the country fair

A HERO APPEARS!

THE COUNTRY FAIR

That morning every animal on Patch of Heaven were excited by the country fair: the colors, the people, the food… and especially the "Farmer of the Year" contest; farmers from across the country will participate showing their best farm animals on several contests: weight, milk quality, and other kind of contests, but the best one was the "Animal Farm" contest; which was only granted to the most beautiful animal on a farm. In the last years Pearl's cows: Maggie and Mrs. Calloway participated but they always lose against the O'Hara farmer and his bull, Aldebaran. This bull has been wining this competition for 3 years, and now it was Grace's turn to be part of the contest.

"Make us feel proud Grace" said Mrs. Calloway who was wearing her purple hat.

"C'mon Mrs. C, we all know she will make us feel proud, just be yourself and remember always to smile" Maggie was speaking with a lazy voice, she was half – awake.

"Thanks girls, I'll win the contest and Pearl will be so proud of me"

With those words Grace climbed Pearl's truck and left to the country fair, all the way Grace was thinking about the people there: youngsters, farmers and other animals, they arrived twenty minutes after. The person in charge of assigning the pace where the animals were displayed was already there and assigned Peal the stall number 4; Pearl parked behind the stall and opened the truck door.

"Come on darling" Pearl says as she led Grace into the cozy stall filled with fresh hay and water.

Five minutes later the stall's door number 5 opened, showing a huge bull and his owner.

"Howdy Pearl, ready to lose the "Animal Farm" award of this year?" the farmer said as he laughed.

Pear pretended she wasn't hearing "this man needs to learn manners" she thought. So she and the farmer met the other farmers and the judge to decide in which contest they will participate. The judge was taking note about that; on a piece of paper was written the name of the animal, the owner and the contest. On a sheet of paper appeared:

Number 5: Grace – Pearl – Milk Quality and Farm Animal

Number 6: Aldebaran – O'Hara – Weight and Farm Animal

"So… you're participating on "Farm Animal" too, uh?" O'Hara said on a tone more sarcastic than interested.

"Yes, and this time I pretend to win" Pearl said while she was walking to see her charming Grace.

On her stall Grace was enjoying the hay when a voice from the next stall spoke.

"Hey! You must be a new challenger! And I bet you're here to win the "Farm Animal" award of this year" the bull said.

"Yup, also my owner enrolled me in the "Milk Quality" contest, and you?" Grace said with a smile.

"I will participate in the "Weight" contest, the name's Aldebaran; what's yours beauty?"

"I'm Grace, nice too meet you" Grace said, and she thought that his owner was mean but the bull was nice, both animals only chatted for a few minutes; then Pearl and the Judge appeared. Pearl opened the stall door; she was walking inside with a stool and a bucket. Pearl washed Grace's udders and dried them with a soft flannel, after the wash; she milked Grace and gave the milk to the judge, the judge looked at the milk then he sank the finger on the bucket and tasted the milk; then he looked at Grace and smiling said "I guess we have a winner here" the judge winked at Pearl and continued walking to the other stalls.

When the judge left, Pearl hugged Grace and kissed her head "You're going to win sweetie, I know you're going to win"

Another judge came closer and asked O'Hara to take his bull outside to the place where the "Weight" contest will take place, Pearl and Grace waited for an eternity for the judge who was grading the milk quality from the other cows appeared and said

"Congrats Pearl, your cow Grace; won the "Milk Quality" contest"

The judge gave Pearl a blue ribbon who says "Milk Quality, 1st. Place" ten minutes later O'Hara appeared with a blue ribbon who says "Weight, 1st. Place" now both farmers were waiting for the big contest, the last contest would take place within two hours because the other judges were still judging other animals. Pearl stayed with Grace for long time, she and Grace began to feel hungry; Pearl went out to find something to eat while Grace started to eat hay.

While Pearl & the O'Hara farmer where outside, Aldebaran were flirting and telling silly jokes to the other cows that where next and at the front of his stall; then, he looked at Grace when she laughed due Aldebaran's jokes.

"Hey, that's a nice voice! I bet you could sing very well!" he said with a smile on his face while the other cows were still laughing.

"Um, thanks" Grace said with a shy smile

"Why don't you sing for all of us?"

"Really? Do you want to hear me singing?"

"Of course" Aldebaran was staring at Grace with an interested look on his face

Suddenly, Grace started to sing with her voice and all the animals started to hide their heads underwater or under the hay

"Ok, that's was something interesting…" Aldebaran said with only one of his eyes opened

"Did you enjoy it?" Grace was smiling and staring at Aldebaran with a happy look

"Yeah, yeah, um, if you excuse me, I guess my ears are bleeding" he leaned back on the wooden floor and leaned his head on the hay

Pearl returned half hour later, O'Hara retuned five minutes before, and right now he was pampering his huge bull. Both pretended the other wasn't there, time passed and a judge entered into the tent and said

"Ok everyone, this is it; the "Animal Farm" contest is about to start, please take your animal and go to the blue tent; once there, we will start the contest"

About fifteen farmers were there with their animals: ducks, pigs, hens, goats, cows and bulls, all of them looked healthy with shinning fur and feathers; there was a huge table with five judges on it. They were calling every farmer one by one, every farmer had a number: Pearl was the number 5 and O'Hara the number 6. When Pearl's turn came she took Grace to the center and the judges started to write on their notebooks, the next and the last one was O'Hara's bull: Aldebaran, he knew his bull was a winner and he will win the "Animal Farm" award again like he always has been doing.

After a long deliberation the judges had the results…

"First of all, I want to thank you all for participating on the country fair; we have seen beautiful animals, but only one animal can win the big price and after a long wait we have the results. And now the moment you've all been waiting. The winner of this year is…"

_**This is my first Home on the Range fic. I hope all of you are enjoying it so far; if you want to know who wins the "Animal Farm" contest wait for the next chapter, it will be**__** entitled "Unknown Farm". Oh, I want to thank to Bovine Beauty for her help and ideas for this story, also I promised her that if I use some of the characters from her previous fics, I'll give her credit, so maybe on further chapters you will see a character that belongs to Bovine Beauty. **_


	2. Unknown farm

A HERO APPEARS

UNKNOWN FARM

"And the winners are Pearl and Grace"

O'Hara's mouth was open "this can't be happening! My bull is a champion! I won this contest three consecutive times! This can't be happening!" he was thinking as everyone was clapping and the judge gave her the golden ribbon who says "Animal Farm" written with golden letters on a blue background.

"We did it Grace! We did it" Pearl was hugging Grace and rubbing her head, Grace was happy too; she won for Pearl, it was a warm feeling on her heart who made her hug Pearl with a movement of her head.

The O'Hara farm came closer to Pear, pretending he was happy for her

"Well, it seems you won this time Pearl" he said at the same time he showed his hand to Pearl

"I knew we were going to win O'Hara, Grace is a special cow, I hope you're not upset" she shook her hand with O'Hara's hand

"I admit I lose this year Pearl, but the next year I will win" after those words he left the tent with his bull.

The rest of the day, Pearl & Grace were enjoying the day together, visiting the other tents and tasting the delicious food. Soon, it was getting dark, Pearl and her champion cow, Grace, were walking to the place where the truck was parking, the door was open and Grace entered with a distracted look; she was feeling proud "wow, two contest! I won two contests!" she was thinking as she climbed the ramp and the door close five seconds later "wow, I don't remember the truck was so big" she said to herself, so she leaned back to one side of the truck "And why it's warm?" she said to herself again.

With all the excitement Grace fell fast asleep as the truck was running and jumping, after a long trip the truck stopped, the door opened and a voice said

"C'mon Aldebaran, we're home"

The wall at Grace's side started to move, she was scared when she saw Aldebaran pushing her outside the truck.

She was with her eyes wide open, just like the farmer O'Hara when he saw Grace coming down the truck instead of Aldebaran. Then Aldebaran pushed Grace again making her fall, one of the O'Hara sons walked straight to his dad

"Hey, isn't that one of Pearl's cows?" the kid said.

"It seems it is, son" O'Hara said

"Should we call Pearl and tell her we have her cow?"

With an evil smile the farmer O'Hara said

"Nah, this sloppy ol' cow dared to take us away the award we deserved, but now we have our award, or should I say…. Aldebaran's award?" the O'Hara looked at Aldebaran, like if both knew what he was talking about.

The farmer O'Hara placed a rope around Grace's neck and dragged her to one of the barns, once inside the tied her to a pole and threw away the two ribbons Grace won in the country fair; finally, he leave her alone with Aldebaran.

When the farmer left Aldebaran showed his true personality.

"Ok, let me explain you how we do things here: you do whatever I say, you obey and never make questions" Grace was shocked: how can a bull change from being nice to being like… like… like that. Aldebaran continued

"Oh, and if you try to escape, just remember this…. Accidents happens"

The last sentence caused her chills, Aldebaran left the barn and walked to his own warm, cozy stall and slept like a rock. Grace spent the night tied to the pole without a chance to lie on the floor, so she slept on her four legs and thinking "Please Pearl, please you must realize I'm not in the truck, Please Pearl"

Grace woke up so tired, her legs were killing her, the pain was so huge; and she was starving. The O'Hara farmer entered on the barn and threw her hay, it was not enough to fill her stomach; in fact it was too little, Grace was still starving.

After eating the hay, the O'Hara farmer released her, and allowed her to go outside the old barn; Grace realized that farm was really strange: like if she was still sleeping. All the animals were sad for some reason. She looked around; there was the hen house, the pigpen and another barn; Grace had her doubts about how was the life there and thinking where could be Patch of Heaven… she slept all the way to that unknown farm, so Grace didn't knew to where should she have to run.

The farmer O'Hara walked to the hen's house to pick some eggs, from where Grace was standing she could see how the farmer was picking the hens and putting the eggs on a basket, then the farmer sighed when he picked up the last hen, it was an old one; covered with white feathers and red feathers on her head. The farmer placed the basket on the floor and grabbed the hen by her leg; he walked to the center of the farm where there was a chopped log and then…

He cut the hen's head in front of all the animals, Grace was terrified and shaking "how can he do that? It was a living thing and he just did that!" she thought, now she was feeling a cold wind running through her body.

The other hens were just watching but when the farmer took the axe, ready to cut the hen's head they looked away and their feathers trembled when they heard the sound of the axe against the log, one hen passed next to Grace and said

"The third hen this week"

Grace looked at the hen "what's going on? Why did he…" She couldn't speak, it was horrible the thing she just saw.

"I guess you're new here, so I will explain you what happened, they treat us like things; only to get profits, this is the O'Hara farm; but we call it "Produce or Die farm" then the hen hide a tear

"That hen… her name was Rita, she was my best friend"

And then, like if the sky knew someone good was gone, turned black and started to rain, Grace looked surprised when she saw no one was looking shelter when the rainfall intensity increased; it was a bizarre scene, they didn't care if they got sick or something…

Suddenly, a thought assaults Grace's mind: the "Produce or Die farm" and Aldebaran's words "…Accidents happens…"

Grace saw other cows, they were feeding their calves, except one, this calf was thin; it was pushing the other calves, trying to find food but the cows pushed him away and saying stuff like "Get away" and one calf dared to say "Get lost, fatherless calf" the lonely calf walked and stayed under a tree, shaking.

The calf, shaking and crying, huddled into a small ball; the calf looked up and saw a yellow, smiling cow. This cow huddled next to him with a sweet and kind smile looked at the calf's eyes and said

"Are you hungry?"

The little calf looked down and nodded, in response of that and after seeing what the other cows did, she smiled at the little calf again

"My udders are full with delicious milk" the little calf looked at the cow, and the cow finally said "It's all yours"

The cow rose, showing her udders to the little calf who started to drink the milk from that cow who was offering friendly her milk.

The rain was still falling, the cow and the calf were standing under the tree; finally when the calf's tummy was full, the cow said

"Do you have a name?"

The calf lapped the milk it had on his face and said.

"Louis"

Grace hugged Louis, and sitting next to him, she smiled; Louis smiled too; for one second she had forgotten everything about trying to escape, Louis was all alone; without anyone at his side. Somehow, Louis became Grace's first priority. Without noticing someone was watching that scene, two dogs came closer to Aldebaran who was looking at Grace from his stall and one of the dogs said.

"What do you think about the new cow?"

Aldebaran smiled, like he did when he saw Grace by first time on the farm.

"I think we are going to have fun" then he started to laugh.

_**Well, this is how the second chapter, I hope you enjoyed it; that Aldebaran looks like a creepy creature isn't? If you want to know what happens next, wait to read the next chapter **__**entitled "Iron Hoof" where things are only getting worse for Grace & the little calf, Louis. **_


	3. Iron Hoof

A HERO APPEARS

ALDEBARAN'S IRON HOOF

Grace's first night at the O'Hara's Farm came fast; she was still tired from the last night when she slept on her four legs. This night Grace wasn't tied to the pole again, the farmer O'Hara placed some hay on the floor of the old barn where Grace will sleep with Louis.

At some point in the night, a dog entered into the barn and woke up Grace.

"Hey! You! Cow! Wake up! Aldebaran wants to talk to you! Now! "

It was Rex, a German shepherd; this huge dog had green eyes and one of his ears was missing.

"C'mon cow! Wake up! "Rex said and kicked Grace

She had no choice but get up and follow Rex, Grace looked back just to make sure Louis was still sleeping; Louis was sleeping in a corner of the barn on a hay bed. Rex and Grace entered into Aldebaran's barn, this barn looked so different from the barn she was sleeping… inside there was soft, cozy hay; it had good illumination, definitely a champion's barn.

Before Grace could say something Aldebaran pushed her and made her fell; Rex and the other dog, Max; were laughing while Aldebaran walked in circles around her.

"I saw you this morning with that calf… Louis, isn't? "He looked at Max.

"Yes, that's his name" Max replied.

Aldebaran knelt and spoke straight to Grace's ears; something on his voice caused her chills again. And things went worse when he told to the dogs to stand guard at the barn's door.

"I don't want you near that stupid calf, did you hear me?" He started to walk in circles around Grace again, sniffing her neck and hair; then he looked at the dogs and nodded. That was the sign, both dogs left them alone. Grace tried to rise but Aldebaran pushed her against the floor again, then he walked behind her; Grace, thinking the worst; closed her eyes…

All the animals heard Grace's screams, but no one tried to do something; they just huddled on their beds and pretended nothing was happening. It was not the first time that happened; in fact this was the second time: the first time had happened to a brown cow named Angie. Ten minutes later, Grace left Aldebaran's barn and started to walk to the old barn where she was sleeping with Louis, she found Louis; still sleeping in the corner. She lied back on the floor; she curled up and began to sob. Aldebaran abused her. He really hurt Grace, he did so hard that Grace barely could walk; she remained there, on the floor and crying, and trying to sleep but she couldn't.

The next morning came and inside the O'Hara's house the phone rang

"Howdy Pearl…. Oh, sorry to hear that… No, I haven't seen your cow… yes, yes…. Ok, I will let you know if I see your cow"

The farmer O'Hara talked to Pearl, she asked him if he saw Grace, he lied to her saying that he hasn't seen Grace. But the truth was Grace was at his farm; he pretended to keep Grace as his property.

Grace barely could sleep the last night; she was still in pain. But she spend the night thinking about trying to escape with Louis, she will try it as soon as Aldebaran will get distracted for a second; even when Grace didn't knew where to go, she will try it anyway.

She would suffer the consequences for that….

Grace's first escape was a disaster….

Rex and Max found her almost at the other side of the fence; both dogs gave the alarm sign, barking aloud; enough to be noticed by the farmer O'Hara. Rex bit Louis's leg, making him fall and when Grace looked behind for a second, Max bit her leg too. The very angry O'Hara farmer tied Grace and Louis and pulled them, he tied them in the middle of the farm, once there; he took a whip and started to hit them. He hit Louis first; the poor calf was in the floor, with his back stained with blood; then it was Grace's turn. Once satisfied, the farmer put the whip away and went to his home.

All the animals were just watching; some of them even acted with total indifference, they were used to seeing that. Grace, with her back full of wounds washed Louis's back with her tongue. Aldebaran showed up with his two "Bodyguards".

"I told you not to try to escape" Aldebaran said while he was looking Louis, he pushed him so hard that Louis fell to the ground, hitting the ground with his face.

"Leave him alone, he's just a calf!" Grace tried to scream but she couldn't, the pain was very intense.

When he heard that, his face looked angry; he was angry. Aldebaran hit Grace's body and she noticed a sound when she hit the floor: a broken rib.

"No one dares to face me!" he yelled to Grace's ear, and then he looked at the animals.

"Two days, No food, No water for these two… understood?" Aldebaran was proud of his strength, no one dared to face him; everybody do whatever he wanted, with no questions.

Grace and Louis were tied for two days under the hot sun and the cold nights, something changed, only one animal started to see them like a small light of hope: during the night she secretly brought them food: a small carrot; it was all she could carry. Grace always gave it the small carrot to Louis, during the day; the animal secretly brought them grass with dew, and again Grace always gave it to Louis.

At the morning of the third day, Aldebaran walked straight to them.

"Tell me something, cow… you really thought I wouldn't know?" Grace didn't knew what he was talking about, that was until Rex appeared with the animal who was feeding them in secret: it was the hen who spoke with Grace when the farmer killed a hen days ago.

He looked at Grace with a cold look and without compassion.

"It's all yours" it was all he said.

Rex disappeared with the hen and returned five minutes later. On his face he had blood and feathers.

"The next time, that calf will be the next…"

Grace was speechless, Aldebaran was crazy; he didn't care at all the other animals, he only cared himself. Before he left, Aldebaran said

"I'll wait for you at my barn tonight" Grace knew the meaning of that…

_**This is how the third chapter ends, **__**I hope you enjoyed it. You know? I'm starting to feel bad for Grace & Louis, but things are going to get worse on the next chapter entitled "A traitor among us"**_


	4. A traitor among us

A HERO APPEARS

A TRAITOR AMONG US

Meanwhile, at Patch of heaven; Maggie and Mrs. Calloway were extremely worried, three days without notice about Grace. Pearl was worried too, she called to every farmer he could but everyone said that they haven't seen her cow. One day Maggie was about to leave the farm and start the search by her own but Mrs. Calloway stopped her.

"We can't leave the farm, look at Pearl; she is worried and if you or me leave, she will be even more worried"

Mrs. Calloway was right, they couldn't leave the farm, Lucky Jack was helping; he and two eagles were searching and looking on every farm without success.

Then, there was only one farm left: The O'Hara farm, there were rumors about that farm, about Aldebaran: A kind, fun loving bull; that was what some animals said about the O'Hara farm. So, Lucky Jack went there to see if anyone there could knew where Grace could be.

"I hope Grace is there" Mrs. Calloway said with a worried look "No one has seen her or know where she could be"

"Don't worry Mrs. C; Lucky jack knows the area very well, if anyone can find Grace, that's him" replied Maggie.

"Ok girls, wish me luck" said Lucky Jack as he and the two eagles left Patch of Heaven and were heading towards the O'Hara farm. On the way one of the eagles, which name was Salali (it means light & restless), and had been risen in a Native American tribe; decided to go ahead and get there before Lucky Jack and the other eagle.

"I will go ahead, if Grace is there, I will let you know" she said and left flying fast.

Back at the O'Hara farm, Grace was still thinking about her new escape plan and trying not to think about Aldebaran's words "I'll wait for you at my barn tonight". The last night he abused her, so; Grace was still in pain but at the same time trying to avoid everyone's eyes, it was bad enough being abused by Aldebaran, and now she was stuck on that evil farm.

Then she suddenly stumbled upon an animal, it was a horse; it looked old and tired, just like the other animals on that farm.

"Whoa, careful dear" said the horse

"I'm… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" Grace said with a scared voice, when the horse heard her voice, he smiled kindly.

"It's Ok; I'm not like Aldebaran and his two dogs… the name's Dexter, and yours?"

Before Grace could say her name, Rex appeared, showing his green eyes and his missing ear. He stood between Grace and Dexter as if he was the owner of all.

"Move cow! Aldebaran wants to talk to you! Now! " Rex's voice sounded like a cough, the old dog could still scare the other animals.

Rex and Grace left Dexter alone, the horse saw how both animals were walking inside Aldebaran's barn; once inside, Grace saw Louis on the floor, with Aldebaran's hoof stomping his head.

"Stupid calf, How you dare to look me like that" Said Aldebaran, he didn't cared Grace was standing there; for him, Grace was only another cow.

For a moment, Grace took courage; she kicked Rex and ran straight to Aldebaran. Grace's head hit Aldebaran's body, this made him shake a little; he walked backwards and thinking "how she dare to face me again?" Grace was helping Louis when she heard someone running straight to them: it was Aldebaran, showing his sharp horns. Trying to protect Louis, Grace put him behind her and closed her eyes.

The hit was incredibly powerful, Aldebaran hit Grace's head; with a single rush he threw Grace and Louis across the barn. Grace was on the floor, losing consciousness; but before that could happen, an animal entered in the barn and spoke

"Some animals are approaching, and they are looking for this cow, what do you want to do?"

Grace's eyes were half open, she was falling unconscious but still she could hear what he was saying.

"Hide this cow, I don't want those strangers see her… tell to all the animals I want to see them right now"

Rex was following Aldebaran's orders, but the unknown animal spoke again

"What about my reward?"

Aldebaran looked at Grace, she was completely unconscious; he smiled and turned back to the unknown animal that was standing there.

"Ok, two hens, like I promised, keep doing a good job and maybe I will give you more hens soon" Aldebaran said as he was walking outside, behind him was Max; staring at Grace who was on the floor with Louis at her side.

Once outside the barn, Aldebaran saw how the falcon grabbed two hens and started to fly away. Before the falcon left, he spoke one more time.

"Good job, Salali. Keep working for me and you will be well rewarded"

Salali left the O'Hara farm and headed back, to where Lucky Jack and the other eagle were waiting. She will tell them she found the farm, but no clues about Grace. They will make some questions to Aldebaran, of course; he will lie.

Salali only flew for a minute; she saw Lucky jack and the other falcon half mile from the O'Hara farm. With them near, she hid the reward that Aldebaran gave her; so she hid the hens she was carrying on the top of a tree before return with them.

"Howdy L.J, I found the O'Hara farm; is right there, but no signs of Grace" Salali said with a soft and shy voice.

"Still, I want to ask them, maybe someone had seen her" Said Lucky Jack, rubbing his head.

"We have been looking for Grace on every farm, and the O'Hara farm is the last one around here" Said Aetós (which means eagle on Greek).

"We can go there and ask to Aldebaran, he's like the leader there. So, if anyone have seen Grace, maybe he could help us" Finished Salali.

"Ok, Salali, Aetós; let's go to the O'Hara farm" Said Lucky Jack as he started to walk through the green prairie, that month had been raining and the fields were covered with fresh grass, a sign that summer was here.

"Patch of Heaven is counting on us" with those last words Lucky Jack, Aetós and Salali headed to the O'Hara farm.

**As you can see, Aldebaran has a spy working for him. I feel sorry for Grace and Louis; it seems that things only keep going worse and worse for them… the next chapter will be entitled "Fooled Visitors".**


	5. Fooled visitors

A HERO APPEARS

FOOLED VISITORS

With Grace on the floor and unconscious, Aldebaran and his two dogs went outside the barn and with a huge bark; Max called to all the animals.

"Ok, listen all of you, flea-infested bags!" Max said with a hoarse voice

All the animals were scared, every time Max called the animals "flea-infested bags" meant Aldebaran was about to say something, as he was speaking; Rex, another German shepherd one year younger than Max, was pushing and kicking the animals that were approaching slowly and stopping in front of Max.

"Shut up all of you, Aldebaran wants to say some words"

With those words, Aldebaran showed up, showing his huge, sharp horns; his huge body covered with black-gray spotted fur. On his eyes he showed a cold look, like he knew that everyone was terrified by only hearing is name.

"We're going to have some visitors; all of you must act like if this farm is a nice, happy place while they're here, understood? If any of you dare to say a word about the good treatment that the farmer is giving to all of you… Well, there's no need to say that bad things could happen while all of you are sleeping"

When Aldebaran said "bad things could happen" he was staring at the little chicks, calves and piglets. Finally he stared at Dexter, an old horse who had an accident on his youth; this horse used to be a race horse, a popular one, on the tracks he was known as "Fasta Daxta" or Dexter the Fast. During one race, he tripped and fell; breaking his leg, which made him lose the race and the whole season. After that happened, the O'Hara farmer was so upset and angry that he used his whip on Dexter's body, more specific; he discharge his frustration hitting his broken leg with the whip.

Time passed and the farmer transformed the once race horse into a horse that is used for jobs on the fields, the O'Hara farmer always pushed him to hard, always making him work until Dexter falls exhaust.

Aldebaran spoke to the animals again.

"If any of those visitors asks for a yellow cow, you're going to say that you don't know her; understood?"

All the scared animals nodded

"Good"

It was all Aldebaran said as Max and Rex started to push and kick the animals.

Ten minutes later, three strangers appeared on the farm: a Rabbit and two falcons; Aldebaran recognized one of the animals: Salali, his "spy" on the meadows. The animals on the O'Hara farm gave them the welcome with a fake smile, trying to look nicer and happier.

When one of the cows heard Aldebaran coming closer, she moved aside and allowed him to get closer to the strangers

"Howdy, little friends; welcome to the O'Hara farm, I'm Aldebaran and the leader of these cute little animals"

He was being kind to the strangers who were looking around and trying to see if Grace could be here

"Howdy, Aldebaran, my name is Lucky Jack but you can call me L.J; these are my friends Aetós and Salali; she's the one who talked to you minutes ago"

Said Lucky Jack with a friendly smile on his face as Salali came closer to Aldebaran.

"Yeah, yeah, Salali; isn't?"

He asked to the falcon that was standing in front of him and bowing.

"Yes, they are my friends; I told them all you said about the yellow cow known as Grace, but still they want to hear it from you"

"Of course, of course"

Aldebaran said, staring at the visitors while they were walking at his side, after a few minutes, all of them sat under a tree and a cow that was carrying an old basket with some berries on it placed it on the middle of them and left them alone.

The bull, heard the entire story: The country fair, Maggie, Mrs. Calloway, Pearl and Patch of Heaven. Once Lucky Jack finished, Aldebaran stared at Lucky Jack with a concerned look.

"Oh my, I had no idea that the cow you're looking for is too important! But I can assure you, my long-eared friend, that the cow you're looking for… Grace, isn't? I'm afraid she's not here"

Aldebaran spoke with his visitors and promised that if he sees a yellow cow around the farm; he'll let them know quickly.

Lucky Jack and Aetós accepted Aldebaran's words, except Salali; who smiled straight to Aldebaran as everyone were rising and walking to the fence and leaving the farm. When Lucky Jack, Aetós and Salali were leaving, Salali said

"Go ahead guys; I forgot to thank Aldebaran for everything"

The two animals nodded and started to walk away while Salali was talking to Aldebaran.

"It seems it worked; they really think that cow is not here"

"Yeah, and I hope you keep doing a good job for me; now, go with them before they start to think something strange is happening"

Salali left after those words. The three animals started a new search, Lucky Jack thought that he might get some luck if he search Grace on the Scarecrows Hills.

Once the visitors were far enough, Aldebaran's attitude changed again.

"Ok, good job all of you, expect you: Rose"

Rose was the cow who gave them the berries; it seemed that she stepped on Aldebaran's hoof by accident. She walked backwards as Aldebaran came closer to her.

"Remember what I said? I said bad things could happen while you're sleeping"

Then he looked straight to Rose's calf and started to walk straight to him.

"Wait! Please! He haven't do anything wrong! We were just following your commands!"

Aldebaran was pleased, almost laughing; but instead he looked back and said a few words to Rose.

"Ok, I'm not going to hurt that stupid calf of yours; instead…"

Before he could finish the sentence, Max and Rex bit both hind legs of the cow, so she was like on her knees before him, he never cared if the cows had or already have calves; Aldebaran only saw cows like things that belonged to him.

With Rose knelt, he passed next to her and started to walk away, she sighed; thinking that the only punishment for her was to be on her knees before him; that was a mistake: once she looked up, the only thing she saw was Aldebaran's hoof; kicking her face.

Rose stood on the floor; crying and her calf ran straight to her as Aldebaran passed next to him, with Max and Rex laughing aloud.

Half hour later, Grace woke up; she wasn't inside Aldebaran's barn, she was on the middle of the farm with her legs tied but also her snout, so she couldn't speak or say something.

"Finally, you're awake. Let me tell you something: I'm getting tired of your attitude, if you're not going to learn the lesson; then maybe HE will learn it"

He moved aside and Grace saw Louis tied to the tree and the O'Hara farmer was hitting him with is whip and using a hot iron, branding Louis on his thigh. When Grace saw that horrible scene, she tried to scream but she couldn't, she only could see and hear Louis screaming of pain.

"If you want to know why the farmer is doing this, I'll tell you. Let's say I asked Max to bark and give the alarm of you trying to escape"

Of course that was a lie. When Aldebaran saw the farmer coming closer he started to walk away and smiling said

"It seems it's your turn. Oh, and forget the thing about waiting your visit tonight… I'll wait for my turn once the farmer ends with you"

Aldebaran left Grace alone and saw the farmer holding his whip on his left hand and the hot iron on his right hand. Grace closed her eyes and waited for the worst. All the animals heard Grace trying to scream and saw the tears on her eyes; the farmer was hitting her with the whip, keeping the hot iron ready to brand her with the O'Hara's mark: a giant O with a small H on the middle of the O.

**It seems that things are only going worst for Grace and all the animals on the O'Hara farm, I guess this is the largest chapter I wrote for a story; the next chapter will be entitled… Well, I still don't have a name for the next one, but I'm pretty sure you're going to like it.**


	6. Marked forever

A HERO APPEARS

MARKED FOREVER

Once the farmer was satisfied from hurting Grace with his whip, he grabbed his hot iron and branded her; that made Grace's tears appear; she tried to scream but she couldn't due the rope he has on her snout. All the animals, especially Aldebaran and his two bodyguards were watching and having fun. After a few seconds, the O'Hara farmer put the hot iron inside a bucket full of water and walked straight to Louis.

He released the little, injured calf and dragged him into the barn where he sleeps with Grace. When he was far enough, Aldebaran came closer to her with his two dogs.

"Wow, I have to admit it; that was something funny to see" he said while he was looking Grace's thigh; now marked forever with the O'Hara's mark.

"Well, I guess I'll wait my turn… I'll see you later" he left laughing.

When the O'Hara farmer finally came out from the old barn, Grace was shaking and thinking that he was going to do something else to her. He only released her hooves but her snout remained tied. After a short walk, he tied her again but this time next to Aldebaran's barn.

"If you don't have a calf of your own, then you're useless" The farmer said at the same time he was staring at his bull champion.

"You'll wait here" after those words he left Grace there with only half bucket filled with water, not enough to satisfied her thirst but when she tried to drink, she couldn't because her snout was still firmly tied.

When the farmer was taking Aldebaran, someone appeared on the farm.

"Howdy farmer"

"Howdy Chris" the farmer replied

Grace's eyes shone for a second, thinking that finally someone had seen what the O'Hara farmer is doing to the animals, but that shine disappeared when she heard what they were talking about.

"Just came to collect…" That person only coughed after those words.

"Oh, right; Wait here, I'll be back" with those words the farmer went inside his house and appeared two minutes later.

"Hey, is that a new cow?" The person asked

"Yeah, it's a new cow, Sheriff Chris"

The person who was talking with the O'Hara farmer was actually the Sheriff's Assistant; he was hired by Sheriff Brown to help him to keep things in order around the town.

"I see you've been busy" The Sheriff Assistant said as he was looking Grace's wounds.

"Sorry for asking, but haven't you gone too far? I mean; hurting that cow…"

The O'Hara farmer sighed and gave the money to Chris.

"This is not of your business"

"Ok, ok; I was just saying that if Sheriff Brown see what it's really happening on this farm, things might get worse for you"

He said as he was counting the money he had on his hand and leaving the farm.

The O'Hara farmer sighed again.

"You have your money; I'm paying you to keep the Sheriff Brown away from my farm"

Grace was hearing the whole conversation and she couldn't believe that the Sheriff's Assistant could be corrupt; she was mooing and trying to get his attention but she didn't had an answer

"Well, that's all for now; I'll see you next month, O'Hara" Finally, he left the farm and the farmer continued with what he was doing before being interrupted by the Sheriff's Assistant.

"Sorry for keep you waiting Aldebaran; c'mon, that cow is waiting for you" The farmer said as he was pushing his bull champion kindly to the place where Grace was tied.

When Grace saw the farmer getting closer with Aldebaran at his side, she started to shake again and tried to run but she forgot the ropes on her neck, legs and snout.

Finally, the farmer let Aldebaran came closer to Grace as he was sitting on a box and watching, Aldebaran started to smell Grace's hair, neck and belly; when his bull finally started to walk behind Grace, he turned on a cigarette that he had on his pocket and crossed his arms. The helpless Grace only closed her eyes and tried to think about her home but she couldn't, it was like the memory of her home had disappeared because she couldn't remember anything.

A couple of minutes later, Aldebaran stood at Grace's side; when the O'Hara farmer saw that he knew that his bull fulfilled his job. Then he took his bull and led him into his barn where the farmer feed him with fresh hay and water.

The famer appeared again and released Grace's hooves and snout; he led her to the old barn where she has been sleeping with Louis. Once inside the barn; he hit with his hand the thigh that had the O'Hara's mark, when he did that, Grace's tears appeared.

"You better give me a calf" with those words the farmer left and closed the barn's door.

Louis appeared with some tears on his face and hugged Grace.

"It hurts" the little calf said

She looked at Louis's wounds and started to lick them; when she saw the mark on his thigh, she tried to think on what she could do to make the pain go away; suddenly, Louis hid under Grace's belly.

"I know, mine hurts too; drink some of my milk, you're hungry" She smiled to Louis, who was still crying.

Louis started to feed from her udders while Grace was cleaning his injuries, finally he cleaned Louis's thigh kindly, making sure of not hurting him. Somehow she knew that was helping him because the little calf didn't cried anymore.

When Louis's tummy was filled with milk, Grace hummed a song that made Louis fall asleep; both animals tried to sleep but Grace couldn't, the image of Aldebaran walking around her and sniffing kept her awake most of the night

**Now I feel bad for Grace: being forced to have a calf, and worse, from Aldebaran. I hope you liked this chapter; ****and sorry if I gave to many details, my apologies. The next chapter will be entitled "Aldebaran's Story".**


	7. Aldebaran's story Part 1

A HERO APPEARS

ALDEBARAN'S STORY

PART I

The next morning Grace woke up earlier and noticed that there wasn't any sign of Aldebaran or the farmer. She went outside the barn carefully, trying not to wake Louis, once outside she crashed with the same horse which she met before.

"I'm sorry, my bad" she said with a scared voice

"Take it easy sweetie; I'm not going to hurt you, do you remember me?" he said with a kind and soft voice, that morning every animal were still sleeping, including the O'Hara farmer and Aldebaran.

The horse moved his head aiming to a tree and started to walk and talked to Grace a bit more. When they were under that tree both animals sat and talked more.

"Well, I'm Dexter; I'm sure you remember I told you what my name was" Dexter was smiling at her, that old horse looked weak and tired.

Grace smiled at him too.

"My name is… is…"

She looked down.

"I can't remember…"

Dexter stared at her with some curiosity.

"Really? Can't you remember what your name is? Or you don't want to tell me?" He frowned

"No, is not that I don't want to tell you, I can't remember who I am"

After a few seconds, Dexter sighed.

"Sarah"

Grace looked at Dexter, and now she frowned.

"Sarah?"

"Well, yeah; you can go around without a name"

She smiled a bit and took a deep breath.

"Sarah… I like it"

Dexter giggled a bit, and then he rose and grabbed an apple from the tree where they were sitting.

"Here, breakfast is served" He gave the apple to Grace; she started to eat that sweet apple. When she was eating it, Dexter sighed again.

"I'm really sorry Sarah; I'm sorry all you have been suffering"

Grace looked at Dexter's eyes and saw something familiar on his look. Then, Dexter looked at Grace's eyes.

"Aldebaran, he… he used to be someone kind before…"

She couldn't believe it; she couldn't believe that someone like Aldebaran could be nice and kind, Dexter spoke again.

"I know what you're thinking, let me tell you Aldebaran's story…"

"_Everything started one year ago, those were good times; the O'Hara farmer used to be a good person, always making us feel safe and loved._

_Aldebaran was loved by all the animals, especially the cows, they were in love of him; the calves always wanted to be like him: a fun-loving bull, he used to play with all the calves and chicks. Believe it or not, he had a mate: Clara. She and Aldebaran were a nice couple; Clara carried his child; oh yeah, they were really happy._

_He used to play with the calves all day long, but he lo__ved letting the kids jump on his back and giving them a ride around the farm, I remember Clara told me once that she hoped that her calf wasn't as crazy as his dad; we laughed a lot that day._

_Every night he told stories to the kids, about pirates and knights. He was a really good story teller, every night he always wanted to be sure that every single animal were safe and inside their warms beds. _

_One day, two puppies arrived to the farm: Rex and Max, the farmer thought that they could be good friends of Lucas, the farmer's son; everyone were kind to them including me, they used to bite my tail; all the time. Aldebaran told me that he was feeling something towards them._

_I remember he told me __those puppies were street animals when the farmer found them behind the saloon, so he took them and brought them home; maybe he thought they might be happier if they had a place where they could be happy, that's how they ended here._

_Few days later, or better said nights later; he found me right here, under this tree; I was worried because I was going to participate into a great race soon, so I couldn't sleep; for some reason this tree always relaxed me but that night I needed something else to help me sleep, in that instant Aldebaran appeared._

"_Are you still here?" he asked me, I only nodded _

_I guess he noticed how worried I was because he said _

"_You're one of the greatest racing horses I ever met"_

"_Well, that's because I'm the only racing horse you met"_

_We laughed and made jokes until Clara found us laughing _

"_Good night Clara" I said_

"_Good night Dex" when she appeared, Aldebaran came closer to her and kissed her snout._

"_Something's wrong? It's a bit late" _

"_I'm Ok, just a midnight craving" _

"_Wait here, I'll bring you something to eat" I said and then went to Aldebaran's barn, where he was keeping some apples. When I returned Clara was sleeping at Aldebaran's side, after seeing that scene I left them alone because I thought they needed time alone. _

_The next morning Clara was resting her head next to Aldebaran's head, they were lucky that I was near because some of the kids were running straight to where they were sleeping; I stood in front of them._

"_Shhh, we better let them sleep" with those words I pushed the kids kindly to somewhere where they could play some games. Aldebaran and Clara slept almost until noon. _

_That day was like other days, except for a very small detail…._

_Aldebaran, Clara and I were next to the chopped log when she said_

"_Um, I'm sorry if I interrupt you, but I'm about to give birth"_

_I never saw Aldebaran like that before; he stood there, motionless with her mouth open._

"_C'mon, wake up!" I said at the same time I pushed him, that made him react_

"_What? What?" _

"_Move, go to the farmer's house!" I pushed him again, two seconds later he was running and mooing._

_I stood at Clara's side; she was lying in the grass and breathing fast, I leaned back next to her, trying to help her. Aldebaran was taking a long time, she was in pain so I left my head on the grass._

"_Put your head on my neck, it might help you" she did it, with her head on my neck; she seemed to be more relaxed. When Aldebaran arrived with the farmer, she was pushing and had the calf's legs already out._

"_C'mon, girl, you almost have it; just a bit more"_

_The only thing the farmer did was pulling the calf's legs until he was finally out from his mom's body; she gave birth to a boy._

_When Aldebaran saw the calf's body, he started to lick Clara's neck; it was like he was comforting her while the farmer was cleaning Clara's calf, once clean, Clara rose at the same time the farmer was showing him his mom's udders; she let a tear came out when her son started to drink her milk, I saw a tear on Aldebaran's eye too._

_Everybody was excited, some of the animals were jumping, mooing and flapping, they wanted to meet Clara's and Aldebaran's son: Bruce. _

"_Guys, stop making noise! Give them some privacy!" I shouted _

"_I'm glad you want to meet my son, but please, my mate just gave birth one minute ago, she need rest" Aldebaran said kindly and all the animals left quietly while Bruce was still drinking Clara's milk._

_Two or three months later…_

_Bruce was sleeping at Clara's side, Aldebaran was near, he was giving me some advices before the farmer took me to the race._

"_Just do your best, always looking forward and don't worry if you lose, you'll have more chances soon"_

_When I finally left with the farmer to the place where the race would take place I felt something; I can't explain it, I just felt that something was wrong. I looked to the place where Clara and Bruce were sleeping, then to Aldebaran; somehow he knew I was feeling something but didn't said anything._

_During the race, on the final lap; I tripped and fell. One of my legs broke, I lose the race, the first thing I saw when I was on the floor and trying to rise was the farmer, he was running straight to me, he knelt at my side and hugged me_

"_My god, Dexter; your leg" _

_I got up, trying to ignore the pain but I couldn't, with some of the farmer's help, I walked slowly to the stables, once inside I leaned back on the hay at the same time the farmer was rubbing my leg; he was taking care of me until some guys entered and talked to him_

"_We made a bet, you lose; you know what means"_

_I didn't knew what that meant, soon I found out what those words meant…_

**I hope you liked Aldebaran's story, he used to be a kind bull before. What's the meaning of those words? You'll find it on the next chapter: "Aldebaran's Story" part II**


	8. Aldebaran's story Part 2

A HERO APPEARS!

ALDEBARAN'S STORY

PART II

"_After what seemed to be a long trip, we finally arrived to the farm; everybody saw the pain in my face. When I was finally inside the barn, the farmer placed some wet towels on my leg, which felt soo good while, he rose and bring me some water and fresh hay; when he left the barn, Aldebaran entered with Clara and Bruce behind him._

"_Uncle Dexter, is your foot Ok?" Bruce asked me with a worried look and getting closer to me._

"_Yep, I'm Ok, just a scratch" I told him at the same time I winked to him, letting him know that I was Ok. But I guess he didn't believed me because the little calf hugged me with a tear on his young face._

_I hugged him too, then Aldebaran told Clara to take Bruce outside because he wanted to talk to me alone, she did so. Once they were outside, Aldebaran stood at my side._

"_You can't fool me, old friend" _

"_I know I can't, old friend" _

_He looked my leg and said_

"_You're lucky, you know?"_

"_How can I be lucky? My leg is broken"_

_I guess I said something that made him feel disappointed, because he stared at me_

"_There's no need to yell, Dex; most of the horses that trip and fell on a race broke more than a leg…"_

"_Sorry, is just that I really wanted to win; for the farmer"_

_We talked for hours when suddenly, the farmer entered; Aldebaran rose and walked straight to him. He rubbed his bull's head and placed a rope around his neck._

"_C'mon boy" _

_Maybe he thought that it was medicine time; once per month, the farmer gave him some vitamins, something that he didn't liked but still he accepted the medicine only if the farmer gave it to him._

_I saw the farmer binding Aldebaran on the chopped log, then he did something that I didn't expected: he tied Aldebaran's snout, that was something unusual; he was surprised too because usually the farmer feed him with the medicine._

_The next thing I saw…."_

Dexter remained silent for a few seconds, Grace was hearing everything and thought that he was going to say something disturbing and stared at Dexter's eyes. When he noticed that Grace was looking at him, he gasped and continued

"_The same guys from the tracks appeared and talked to the farmer about something; that was when I found out the farmer's addiction: gambling, bets, money from the horse races._

_When I lose the race, he not only loses money…._

_He lost__ his cow and calf; he told to those guys that if I lose, he would give Clara and Bruce to them"._

Grace noticed that Dexter's voice changed, he was crying; she thought that maybe she could say something or maybe making stop but she knew Dexter was trying to explain her why his best friend changed from being someone kind into someone cruel and heartless.

"_Those guys were butchers, they sold beef in town. When Aldebaran saw that, he tried to break free but he was firmly tied._

_Clara and Bruce were screaming, I really wanted to help them but my leg… I was useless._

"_I'm sorry, I'm really sorry" The farmer said to Aldebaran, my friend didn't do anything; just stood there, crying. He rubbed Aldebaran's head and saw how those guys dragged Clara and Bruce outside the farm; we lose sight of them when they crossed the hill._

_Aldebaran's heart was broken, the farmer released him; but he didn't moved, he stayed there all night long. The next morning I found him sleeping under the tree where he used to spend time with Clara._

_My leg was still killing me but it was more important to let him know how much I sorry._

"_Aldebaran, I know you're sad; but please, don't blame the farmer"_

"_I'm not blaming the farmer, I'm blaming you"_

_My mouth was open; he was blaming me, after he told me that I only had an accident. _

"_Aldebaran…"_

"_Go away" He was angry, disappointed._

"_Aldebaran…"_

"_I said GO AWAY!" he rammed into my broken leg using his horns, I was in the floor, the pain was huge but I guess the idea of him hating me hurt me more_

"_Stay away from me, or I'll kill you" with those final words, he entered into his barn and closed the door with a big kick. One or two months passed and it seemed that Aldebaran have no intention to talk to me, Max and Rex tried to cheer him up but every time they tried to get a smile from his face he kicked them; but for some reason, they were loyal to him._

_One day, Max and Rex were talking to him, the first thing I thought was "He's going to kick them" but he didn't, they were laughing with him; I guess I missed something because Aldebaran was showing them the farm, even he said that they were under his protection. Maybe he was impressed with their loyalty because they kicked one of the hens but he only laughed, when I saw that scene I knew we had lose our friend._

_Later that day, the farmer entered to the barn where you're sleeping with Louis; he had his whip on his hand, Lara… the things he said to me…_

"_It's your entire fault! Stupid horse!" he started to hit my still broken leg with his whip_

_I beg him to stop but as you already know, humans can't understand our language; he punished me by several minutes. Once satisfied he left the barn._

_Aldebaran entered into the barn with Max and Rex, I thought he was going to help me but instead…_

"_Ok boys, this is the final lesson… it's all yours" _

_Rex and Max attacked me, I was still weak and in pain due the farmer's punishment. My body was covered with bite marks and he was only saying_

"_Keep going make him suffer" _

_He knew when to stop. Once his new apprentices learned everything they needed to know Aldebaran said._

"_Well done, you showed me your loyalty"_

_I didn't knew why, but the farmer was only kind with him but mean and cruel with us. He took him to too many country fairs and always returned with blue or golden ribbons. _

_I stood inside the barn for so many days and weeks, then one of the cows entered into the barn, she was crying; when she saw me, ran straight to me and leaned next to me, I hugged her._

"_Rose? What's wrong?"_

_She cried more and finally spoke_

"_The farmer, he's a monster"_

"_A monster? Why?"_

_With tears on her eyes Rose said_

"_He forced me to…"_

_My mouth was wide open, I couldn't believed that the farmer could force one of his animals to have a calf, she sank her face on my body when Aldebaran passed next to be barn's door; I stared at him with a sad look but he stared at me with a satisfied look, his two "bodyguards" were laughing while they were walking next to him._

When Grace heard what the farmed did to Rose, he felt sorry for her because he forced her to do the same thing just the last night. One part of her didn't wanted to hear more but the other part wanted to hear the rest of the story.

Grace and Dexter talked almost two hours but they had to put an end to the chat when one of the workers who helped the O'Hara farmer with the cows entered into the farmer's house.

"Sara, you better go to the barn and make sure Louis is Ok and be brave; the farmer is not the only one who hurts cows"

After those words, Max appeared and started to yell at Grace.

"Hey, cow; it's milking time, go to the barn now!"

Dexter gave her a little push, Grace rose and started to walk behind Max and thinking about all what he and Aldebaran's lost friendship. They arrived at the barn and Grace saw one person milking the cows in a rough way, she entered and stood next to the barn's door and staring at that person. Then she felt a rope around her neck and saw the O'Hara farmer pulling her and tying her at the same time that the worker slapped the other cow's thigh and ran outside the barn.

She have no choice but trying to be relaxed during the milking but she couldn't, she felt pain when the man started to pull her udders hard, in her mind the milking took too long and when she couldn't resist more, she kicked the bucket by accident, throwing the bucket almost filled with milk to the floor.

The angry man slapped Grace's branded thigh; that made her move her hoof again, crushing the bucket; that man left the barn and yelled

"Farmer! We have another rebel cow!"

When she heard that, her body started to shake because she knew that now the O'Hara farmer was going to punish her again.

When the O'Hara farmer arrived and saw the bucket and the milk all over the floor, stared at Grace and pulled outside the barn; after that he tied her hooves and neck, sat on a bench and started to milk her by himself. The way he was milking her was even rougher than the worker's way. The O'Hara farmer was squeezing and pulling really hard her udders, she was mooing in pain but every time she did that, the farmer slapped her branded thigh, which made her being quiet every five seconds.

Once he finished, released Grace's hooves and led her into the barn where she spends every night with Louis. During the short trip, every step seemed painfully; especially when she noticed that her udders were swollen. Once inside, the farmer closed the door and left her in the dark.

She felt Louis next to her, trying to drink some milk; she wanted to feed him but the pain was huge, every time he tried to reach her udder, she gave a step backwards; that was when Rose, a Brown Swiss cow, opened the barn's door and saw Grace, she was almost crying because Louis was hurting her. After making sure that Aldebaran and the two dogs wasn't near, she entered and spoke with a soft and kind voice.

"Um, I saw how the farmer milked you; if it's ok for you, I would like to help you to feed the calf"

Grace stared at her a little bit confused and agreed to Rose's words, she came closer to them and stood next to her; then she gave a little but gentle push to Louis's bottom, when the little calf turned around, he saw that big cow who moved her legs, showing him her udders and with an hungry look, Louis started to feed.

She leaned back on the wooden floor and stared at Rose's face, she was licking Louis back, showing him that he didn't need to worry.

"I, Um, can we talk?" Rose said

"Sure, about what?"

"About Louis mother"

Grace stared at Louis, who was busy with Rose's udder; so, he wasn't paying attention.

"But before we talk about that… Sorry if I make you feel uncomfortable or something but… Um, I saw when the farmer forced you to… Um, you know..."

She looked down and nodded

"Huh uh"

With those words, Rose and Grace started to talk about Aldebaran and Louis's mother; soon, Grace will know what happened to her and why Aldebaran mentions her every time he could….

**Howdy Pardners! Sorry for this really, really late update; I was busy with a few things, for those who doesn't know, I live on a farm, I was busy with the country fair and my upcoming trip to Chicago but don't worry; I'll try to upload more chapter from there. Well, it seems that Grace is living in a hell, I feel bad for her, trying to feed the little calf Louis, with her swollen udder but it seems that at least something good is happening to her, maybe she made a friend. I still don't have a name for the next chapter but it won't take too long. By the way, I'm on the last months of the Vet School; so, I'll have more time to write and upload more stories.**


	9. A kind hand

A HERO APPEARS!

A kind hand in hard times

Still in pain, Grace knew she had to hear what Rose wanted to say. So, she listened while Louis was drinking milk.

"_Louis's mother name was Angie, she was a kind, generous and sweet cow and it was her who gave us hopes when everything started to go wrong here"_

Grace, or Sara; as she was known at the farm, heard Rose's sigh, it was like she was talking about a friend that she knew from long time ago and while Rose continued with Angie's story, Grace realize that she had a few things on common with Louis's mother.

It seemed that she was hypnotized with Rose's voice, she was hearing but at the same time wasn't hearing those words until some words were pronounced and made her return to reality.

"_Louis is Aldebaran's son"_

What surprised Grace wasn't the fact that Louis was Aldebaran's son but the fact that he was treating his own son like that, like trash.

"_You know Sara? When we saw how you tried to fight when the farmer milked you and when… you know… some of us had a flashback, we didn't saw you, we saw Angie"_

When Grace noticed Rose's small smile, she couldn't avoid to think about a place far from the O'Hara farm, then an image came to her mind: a big brown-white cow, and other black-white cow, the last cow was wearing something on her head; maybe a flower? Or it was a hat? Suddenly those images disappeared and saw the place where she was now: The O'Hara farm, a place where you're forced to produce, have a calf with Aldebaran, or die.

"_What happened with Louis's mother?" _

"_I can answer that"_ Said Dexter, who was coming closer.

Dexter stood at Rose's side for one or two seconds and whispered some words to Rose's ears.

"_C'mon Louis, let's go outside; this is a warm day, C'mon"_

Staring at Rose's face, Grace looked at Louis and nodded, who doesn't wanted to leave his new mother.

"_It's ok Louis, Dexter and I we're only going to talk"_

Louis stared Rose and then to Grace

"_Ok"_

Those were the only words the little calf said and went out with Rose at his side, once they were outside the barn, Dexter spoke.

"_It was exactly one day like this, the farmer finished milking the cows the same way he milked you, hours later that day; Aldebaran was scaring the kids, saying that the butcher was coming for them, can you imagine it? Saying those words to a little calf can traumatize him for life!_

_But he was scaring so much the poor Louis, that he was about to faint, until Angie showed up and shouted to Aldebaran: "that's enough; you don't have the right to scare them to death" _

Angie's reaction that day was reflected on Grace's attitude the day when Aldebaran was about to crush Louis's head.

"_There was a fight, Aldebaran wasn't happy when he realized that Angie was someone dangerous for him; she was inspiring to the other animals to fight back too; so, while she was approaching to her son, he rammed against her and left her on the ground"_

While Grace was hearing Dexter's story, she thought "_It's like if everything was happening again"_

"_During the fight, Aldebaran hurt Angie with his horn, he crushed Angie's lung and lose the fight, something that Aldebaran found funny because he knew that the farmer's rules applies to everyone; except for Aldebaran. The farmer always sold injured animals to the butcher in town"_

When Dexter noticed Grace's face, he know what she was thinking

"I know what you're thinking: Why the farmer hasn't sent me away if I'm causing too much trouble?"

Grace only nodded while the old horse sighed

"I'm going to be honest, the farmer don't want to sell you because you're a young and fertile cow"

"So, the farmer only keeps me here because…"

"Yes, you're the youngest cow here; so, he only wants you to have calves with his bull"

She remained quiet, of course she was scared and in pain because she was thinking that her life there was going to be a hell; then, Dexter talked again.

"Most of us gave up; we don't know how it feels the grass under our hooves or it taste, IF you give up, then Aldebaran will win, don't give him that satisfaction"

The rest of the day, Grace had Louis at her side all the time, thinking that she was there to protect him and herself from Aldebaran, Rex and Max. When the night came, she was almost asleep but stayed awake a bit more just to make sure that Louis was at her side. Soon she fell asleep; dreaming about a place far from the O'Hara farm, in her dream there was a lady with other two cows who were smiling at her and for some reason felt homesickness

"_Please, come home"_

Those words resounded on her mind while she was moving on her hay bed.

Suddenly, she started to feel something warm that it was moving on her body and thought that it was Louis who maybe had a nightmare, but instead she felt a hand moving on her body. Grace almost jumped but stayed calm, thinking that it could be a bad idea if she moves.

A wet towel was cleaning her injuries; all that she could see was a small shape with a towel on the left hand and a bucket on the right hand. The sensation was great, the warm water was helping her to feel better and relaxed.

"I'm sorry this happened to you"

It was a kid voice, and sounded sad

"I know my dad can be cruel, especially with animals"

When the kid's hand stopped at her tummy, Grace stared at the kid and noticed that he had some tears on his face

"Is this a trick?" She thought

Then, the kid covered Grace's udders with the wet towel; it felt so good that she gave a big sigh and allowed the kid to rub her udder.

"I'm Elliot, by the way" he said when stopped rubbing her udder and started to rub her snout.

Elliot stayed at her side for hours, he knew that his father was at the saloon; he always go there every two days and return the next morning, so he could stay with Grace almost all night long.

When Elliot fell asleep next to Grace, she placed her head at Elliot's shoulder and fell asleep too, but before that; she had a thought

"Maybe not everyone is cruel after all…" Finally, she fell asleep.

Rex and Max passed next to the barn that had the doors opened and didn't noticed that Elliot was there, so they continued walking and making sure everyone were in their respective beds.

The next morning, Grace noticed that Elliot was gone; maybe he went inside the house before his dad came home from the saloon and it happened; the O'Hara famer was entering into the farm but was drunk, when he noticed that Grace was staring at him, he walked straight to her.

"What are you looking at, stupid cow?"

With Elliot's help, Grace Injuries healed a bit but it was still in pain, so she couldn't rise fast when she noticed that the farmer took his whip

"I said WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, STUPID COW?" then he started to hit Grace's body with the whip for almost half hour, for one second the farmer thought that the cow was begging and stopped.

"Stupid cow" said again while he put his whip on the floor and went inside the house.

Grace's thighs were covered with blood when Rose entered the barn, she was crying. She leaned at Grace's side and rubbed her neck against her head.

"I'm here, I'm here"

That was enough, Dexter was angry and sad.

"I have to take you out of here before something bad happen to you" he muttered when a small animal stood at his side.

"Maybe I can help you with that"

"Gus, I thought you were sleeping"

"Not really, everyone heard the O'Hara farmer using the whip; I'm tired too Dexter, I will try to escape tonight and I want you, Rose, Louis and the new cow escape with me"

Gus talked with Dexter for hours about the escape plan and everything was almost ready, they only had to wait until the night and the storm; they agreed that it was the perfect time because it will be dark to being noticed. When they told the plan to Grace and Rose, both cows agreed with them, especially Grace who didn't wanted the O'Hara farmer hit Louis like he did to her.

Everything was ready; they only had to resist one more day and then, freedom.


	10. Freedom's Price

A HERO APPEARS!

FREEDOM'S PRICE

The escape was the easy part, but now Rex, Max, the O'Hara farmer and one of his workers were behind them; Dexter, Grace, Louis and Rose were now running in the dark and trying to find a place where they could hide.

There was a storm a couple of hours ago and they took the chance to break the fence every time a thunder was heard, while Dexter did that; Grace and Rose kept an eye on the O'Hara's door and Aldebaran's stable, only three kicks were needed to break it and make a big hole enough for them. The old horse leads them into the darkness and found a road that might take them far from that horrible farm. It was only when they were half mile away when he noticed that Gus wasn't behind them.

"Stay here, I'll see if Gus is still behind us" he ran back at the farm, somehow without being noticed by the farmer, his worker and the two dogs, maybe because it was pretty dark and the smell of wet dirt made it possible.

When he finally arrived, stood outside the fence and saw a horrible scene; Aldebaran caught Gus and was talking to everyone in a calm and fake concerned voice.

"The farmer treats us well, he gave us a home, food and a place where we can live without worries; but what Gus and Dexter have done is a crime, he betrayed us when ran away with those cows and my calf without thinking about the family he have here"

Dexter knees where shaking when Gus had Aldebaran's hoof on his head while he continued talking about how much he was worried about everyone's safety, for one second he thought that maybe if he shows up, Aldebaran might forgive Gus but then he realized that Rose, Grace and Louis were still outside and hiding.

Now her body was shaking because Gus had his two wings broken, Rex caught him when he was about to put a foot outside the fence.

"I hate to do this but punishment is necessary, all of you know that I'm a patient bull and death sentence is the last thing I would apply"

His hoof rose while he was staring at Gus's face

"Something you want to say before your execution?"

"Our lives doesn't belong to you"

The sound of something cracking was heard by all the animals, his hoof stood on what once was Gus's head, his body was moving but of course wasn't alive. Dexter turned around and left the farm slowly, thinking that Gus gave his life for them; he had the chance to tell Aldebaran where they could be but didn't betray them.

He sighed and thought "If I only had noticed we left you behind… I'm so sorry Gus"

Grace started to think that something bad happened to Dexter because he wasn't returned yet. They were too close to be discovered by Max but they were lucky because one second ago the O'Hara farmer passed next to them.

"Thank goodness for the rain" Rose said with a soft voice "The dirt is still wet and they can't smell us"

Rose almost screamed when Dexter appeared next to her.

"We thought something happened to you" Grace said "where's Gus?"

He had to think about something because didn't wanted to say that he died

"He said that he will find us soon, I told him to run but said that he will stay and gives us time to find a place where we could hide" Grace immediately noticed that Dexter lied because didn't saw her to her eyes when he said that.

"It's getting cold, it's better if we rest here; I'll stay awake, you should try to sleep"

Louis stared at Grace, the little calf seemed tired

"I'm hungry" Louis said

Rose looked at Grace's udders; they were still swollen due the rude way she was milked

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll feed you"

Grace wanted to feed Louis but was still in pain "Thanks"

"You're welcome darling; try to sleep, I'll take care of this little, charming calf while you take a nap"

The next morning was cloudy and drizzling, they were tired but made and effort to continue their travel. Dexter seemed distracted and Grace was the first one who noticed it.

"What happened to Gus? I know there's something you're not telling us"

"He's at the farm; I only wish he ran with us instead of staying there"

"Dexter, please; the truth"

After a long sigh, he finally told her the truth

"Aldebaran, that's what happened"

"What happened?"

"Public execution"

Those words made her stop walking and made her feel guilty because an innocent animal died they were free, nothing fair for her. She felt sad because Gus was a nice animal who wanted to help and escape with them but was caught and punished.

"He wanted to help us and I'm sure he wants us to continue and find a place where we could live, far from the O'Hara farm; there's an abandoned mill few miles from here"

Grace held her tears and acted as nothing happened because she didn't wanted make Louis feel sad, maybe he was still a little calf but knew what death was and the last thing she might want was making him if death was around him all the time.

She nodded and reached Rose and Louis who were some feet away, when they continued walking, Grace licked Louis's thigh; where the O'Hara's branding mark was. The little calf smiled at her and by the first time in years, he started to talk.

"I've never seen so much grass in my life; I only saw it from the fence"

"I know what you're saying, it looks delicious but I'll wait until we reach the ol' mill; I've heard that there are some bags will oats and other sweet, delicious seeds"

Grace pretended everything was ok and participated in the chat

"You're right, we could use it as our new home; and my udders don't hurt anymore, and I'm feeling ready to feed Louis"

All the way they were talking about what kind of stuff they might find on the old mill; but in her heart, Grace felt something was broken; she knew what was: Gus, he only wanted to do something good but Aldebaran always found a way to control everyone's life, including hers.

Sorry the late, I've been a bit busy with other things; there's a lot of things to do on a farm and work never ends but still I love it because it's the place where I've been living and working for years; I all of you liked this chapter, right now I'm working on the next one and will be uploaded very soon.


	11. Kind Strangers

A Hero Appears!

Kind Strangers

All the way Grace was thinking about Gus's sacrifice and how much he had suffer when Aldebaran questioned him about Dexter and company location.

"Finally, there's the old mill" Dexter said with a tired voice

"We can rest there and make it our new home while we find out what's the next step"

They were careful inside the old mill, it was covered with dust, there were some broken windows and the door was missing but still it was a good place where they could take a good sleep after walking almost all night. Louis started to drink from Grace's udders while she was almost asleep, Rose lay down next to her and washed her head.

"You have some dirt on your head, sweetie"

"Thanks" Grace said

"Dear, it seems you hurt your head" Rose said when she found out a bump on her head

"Yes, it hurts a bit, I can handle the pain"

"There's no need to act, sweetie; we're far from that horrible place"

Rose washed Grace's head again while she was nursing Louis, they stayed awake some minutes and then fell asleep, except Dexter who was standing next to the mill's door, and he wanted to make sure there wasn't any danger. Everything seemed to be ok until some voices started to talk each other on the wooden beams

"Look Sweetums, it seems we have visitors"

"You're right, Poots, we have some visitors"

Dexter looked up, scared when suddenly two small shadows came down and stood on another wooden beam where he could see them.

"It has been a long time since we had visitors"

Sweetums and Poots were barn owls who lived there since last winter and made it their new home.

"Would you please tell me your name?"

"I'm, um; Dexter"

"Well, hello there Dexter, what brings you to our home?"

He didn't was a bit nervous and didn't wanted to say that they escaped from the O'Hara farm, knowing that Aldebaran had spies outside the farm and Salali was the proof.

"We're just on a trip"

"Look Poots, she has the O'Hara's farm mark"

"That's interesting, from what we've heard about the O'Hara farm, I have the feeling you're fugitives" Poots said while he stared at Dexter with his huge, black eyes. Dexter passed next to him to wake Grace and Rose; when Sweetums noticed Dexter's reaction, she smiled at him and then stared at Poots.

"Don't listen to that silly owl, we're friendly; we only heard that there are bad things happening at the O'Hara farm and if you want, you can rest here" after a minute of silence, Sweetums's face changed to serious.

"It's a shame what happened to Gus, he was a friend of us"

"How you know him"

"That's a story for another day, right now you should sleep too; you look tired and sad; you can trust us; we would never hurt someone who was brave enough to escape from that horrible farm"

"There's a spot you can use as a bed"

Both owls seemed nice, so, Dexter lay down on a warm spot near Grace and Rose. During his sleep, he dreamed with Gus and the horrible way he was executed. The next morning, Rose found an incredibly amount of cranberries on the floor.

"Um, Dexter? Sara?"

Her voice wake them up, thinking that Aldebaran found them but then felt relaxed knowing that they were still on the old mill.

"This food…"

"We brought you some food because I guessed you might be hungry" Sweetums flew down and stood next to the cranberries.

Both cows and Louis were nervous because they didn't knew someone lived there or if she worked for Aldebaran until Dexter spoke

"It's ok, they're friendly and it seems they know we escaped from the O'Hara farm"

"That's right, if you want to continue your travel, you need some food on your bellies"

"What do you mean?"

Grace asked while Louis walked under her stomach and started to drink from her udders.

"My mate, Poots; he was hunting this morning and when he was about to catch a juicy mouse, came home and told me that some humans with two huge, scary dogs were near this mill; I'm sorry but you must leave this place, I just put some eggs and must take care of my new family"

"I guess we've to run again…" Rose said with her head down

"Poots, honey; is that tribe still hiding there?"

"Oh, right, the tribe! Sweetums, you're a genius!" everyone noticed when Sweetums blushed

"Aww, Poots, you're always charming!"

"Ahem, you were saying something about a tribe?" Dexter interrupted

"Oh, sorry; yeah, there's a tribe far from hear; they might help you"

They stared each other, with doubts; thinking that they were too tired to travel again and it might be too hard for Louis because he was still tired for a long trip. While they were thinking about it, Grace washed Louis's thigh, where he had the O'Hara's branding mark.

"There's no other choice, we'll go outside and find that tribe"

"You'll be safe as long as you travel north" Sweetums added.

Dexter thank Sweetums and Poots by all their kindness and left the old mill with his friends behind. During their trip, Louis started to talk more than he used at the farm; maybe because there he felt like a slave and scared all the time.

"They seemed nice, I think Sweetums was cute with her white feathers" Louis said

"You're right, they're an adorable couple; but Poots is a bit crazy, don't you think, Dexter?"

"I agree, it's good to know that kindness still exist; I only thought only existed pain and suffering and I feel that from now everything will be ok"

"I only hope Gus can find us, I feel bad for leaving him behind"

Rose's words made Dexter feel a knot on his stomach, sooner or later he must tell her what happened to him.

Sweetums and Poots followed them until they were far from the mill.

"I can't believe we did this, they seem kind animals"

"I know, but he promised that our nest and eggs will be safe, we did what we had to protect our family; besides, they said they're not going to hurt them"

"I guess you're right… I truly hope you're right"

Both owls returned to their nest and told Max the way they walked and as part of his deal, he gave them back the five eggs he took when "convince" them to guide Dexter and company into a trap.

**Well, this is how it ends this chapter, I hope you liked it because I did; it was good to know that they had a break from all they had suffer on their way to freedom. I took the names "Sweetums" and "Poots" from one of my favorite books: "The Guardians of Ga'Hoole". Sorry if it took me a long time to continue with the story, I've been writing a bit more for "Untamed Heart" but decided to wait until this one is almost finished.**


	12. Don't look back

A HERO APPEARS

DON'T LOOK BACK

It was near midnight when Grace and company found shelter under a bug tree that had aromatic flowers, something very unusual during summer; still, it was a good change, all they had smelled since their scape was wet dirt.

As Dexter made sure Rose, Grace and Louis were comfortable; Rose, the old Brown Swiss cow noticed that Grace had troubles feeding Louis, every time he drank milk from her udders it hurt Grace who tried to ignore the pain; then, she kindly offered the little calf some of her own milk.

"Thank you… I wish I could feed him… there must be something I could do for you"

"Don't worry sweetie, I used to feed almost every calf at home; if you can call THAT place home. Besides, you need to let your udders heal first"

Both cows talked for several minutes and Louis occasionally joined to the talk.

"Where are we going now?"

"As far as we can, those owls mentioned a place far from here where we can live without being discovered by the O'Hara farmer and we must continue until he gets tired or bored"

Grace nodded and stared at Louis, his pretty face showed tiredness, in fact, everyone were tired; she washed his face and kindly smiled, he smiled back to her.

"Thanks mommy"

She felt touched by Louis's words and a small tear ran over her face, she smiled at him and licked his forehead.

Once the little calf fell asleep, Rose stared at Grace.

"He's lucky, you came to his life in the right time; some time ago I found out that one of Aldebaran's plans was transforming Louis into a heartless bull like him"

Grace couldn't believe it _"what was that crazy bull thinking?" _she thought and was about to say something when she felt Louis shaking like if he was having a nightmare, then she started to sing a lullaby; he beautiful voice caught Dexter's attention and started to sign too, Rose joined them immediately. Despite the tiredness, the three animals continued singing for a long time; singing was a way to get rid of everything they lived before the escape. One by one fell asleep, being Grace the last one who had a good sleep.

In her dream she saw two cows: A brown, huge cow and another cow with a hat; she woke up a couple of times every time the cows in her dream spoke and made her think what could be the meaning of that.

When they woke up, rain already started to fall strongly and had to wait before continuing their journey. Louis was standing next to Dexter, watching the rain and giggling when the big horse told him a couple of silly jokes. That was something new for Grace, it seemed that Louis already forgot everything about his previous life at the O'Hara farm and though it was better that way and wished she could do the same. Suddenly, she had the feeling that they were watched.

She rose fast, ignoring the pain caused to her udders when Dexter moved his ears in circles.

"Did you felt it too?"

"Yes, we better keep moving; I'm feeling nervous for some reason"

The four animals abandoned the tree were they spent the night, with the feeling of having something following every step they gave, a couple of miles later they heard two dogs barking and human voices shouting.

"They're near!" one of the humans shouted

"Set them free, they will guide us to the O'Hara's property"

Rex and Max started to run straight to them, they were too close; Dexter and the other animals couldn't run fast because of Louis, they knew that the little calf would be the first one to be captured and taken back to the horrible place they used to call home.

With the two dogs close to them, the only choice was run; Dexter noticed the fear on Grace's and Rose's face, with a big sigh he told them his plan.

"We can't continue running forever; Grace, I want you to run with Louis and Rose as fast as you can and no matter what you hear… don't look back, just keep running"

"W… What are you…?"

"Please, just promise me that you will keep running and won't look back"

She was mute some seconds and it was time they couldn't waste

"Grace, snap out!" those were the last words he said when she finally reacted and saw him running straight to where Max and Rex were, she pushed Louis and started to run with Rose behind them.

The rain was hitting their heads, making almost impossible to see anything in front of their faces. All the way they heard Dexter neighing but then only sound when a strong sound echoed; Rose knew what was that sound, she heard it once at the O'Hara farm.

She stopped and stared at Grace with sadness.

"Dexter…"

She shook her head when Grace asked for him.

"Stay with Louis, I need to know what happened"

"Wait, Grace!"

What Grace saw made her world fell apart, Dexter was on the floor with Rex and Max sitting at his side like if he was a hunting prey while one on the humans was petting their heads and saying words like "good job" and "well done" while the other human held his shotgun and making a sick joke.

"He didn't mention anything about get them back alive, right?"

"I dunno, he only said something about paying us to find them"

Grace probably stood near the place where Dexter laid dead, with a big wound under his left shoulder. All she did was crying in silence, the big horse always was a big support for her and made her think that everything was possible but right now all she felt was extreme sadness as she saw both humans covering Dexter's body and dragging him back to the O'Hara farm.

**Sorry for the late update, lot of things happened and couldn't continue writing (things that I won't say, except for my best friend Jovi, who knows what I'm talking about). I'll try to upload the other chapters I already wrote**.


End file.
